"Aquarium Eyes is the second album by the Austrian duo, Ritornell. Their debut, Golden Solitude, was released in 2009 on Karaoke Kalk. Acoustic and electronic sounds merge on Aquarium Eyes. Paying great attention to detail, Ritornell recorded at various locations (the studio of Patrick Pulsinger being one of them). The results are gently woven into their very own world of sound. Defamiliarized by subtle electronic manipulation, instruments such as piano, double bass, vibraphone, kalimba, and accordion develop a surprising life of their own, only to be consequently swallowed up by the hissing and buzzing of electronic devices. Gleaming multi-layered electro-acoustic drones, isolated organic sounds, and sophisticated textures complete the intricate arrangements. On Aquarium Eyes, Ritornell tackle the art of songwriting for the first time: Vienna based vocalist Mimu sings, whispers, and sighs golden threads through some of the fragile sound structures that Gerold and Eigner assembled with intuition. The duo also collaborated with vocal artist Didi Bruckmayer on the track Tremble. Music Box is a conceptual piece: Under the direction of Richard Eigner, 20 people simultaneously turn the levers of their music boxes: Melodies of musical history blend into a sparkling confusion of sound. With their interpretation of In Every Dream Home A Heartache, Ritornell finally present their very own version of a Roxy Music song, albeit with a twist: the guitars from the original have been replaced by a string trio." - boomkat

Austrian duo Richard Eigner and Roman Gerold emerged with their debut collection as Ritornell ‘Golden Solitude’ back in 2009, and four years on this second album on Karaoke Kalk ‘Aquarium Eyes’ sees them continuing to apply subtle digital trickery to a rich base of live instrumentation ranging from kalimba and cello through to piano and double bass. The resulting predominantly downbeat arrangements occasionally call to mind some of the Compost Records label’s warm yet jagged electronic-jazz outings, albeit given a considerably more moody and unpredictable twist. ‘The Morning Factory’ opens proceedings on a delicate note as rich woodwinds and phased synth trails float against fluttery, cut-up jazz drums and the deep sigh of double-bass, the resulting poignant atmosphere calling to mind early Cinematic Orchestra.
Elsewhere a suitably eerie cover of Roxy Music’s suburban alienation classic ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ sees Viennese vocalist Mimu throwing a more slinky angle on the original, her chanteuse purr smoothly intersecting with shuffling snares and subtly manipulated plucked strings to spectacular effect as the percussion slowly grows into a wall of sound, before the instrumental ‘Aquarium Eyes’ gets more minimalist and spooky as treated pianos and percussion ripple against a glitchy backdrop of ambient electronics, the live drums locking down into a loose-limbed groove against trailing flutters of jazzy keys. It’s typical of the more abstracted directions also being explored elsewhere here on tracks such as ‘I’ve Stolen The Moon’, which offers up what’s easily one of this album’s more ominous yet graceful moments as manipulated chiming and plucked percussive tones gradually build into a rich carpet of textures beneath eerie jazz-noir piano keys and jagged snare breakdowns. An impressive second album that sees Ritornell introducing vocal elements to their meticulously edited arrangements to strong effect. - www.cyclicdefrost.com/blog/

Ritornell is the duo of Richard Eigner and Roman Gerold, two Austrian composers from specialising in different yet wholly complimentary disciplines. Gerold is a trained jazz pianist whereas Eigner has established himself as a sound artist, having also contributed some drums to Patrick Wolf's last album, Magic Position. Golden Solitude - the duo's debut album - arrives with a following that includes avant-techno maven Cristian Vogel and underground Canadian director Bruce LaBruce, who used a track from the album on his latest film Otto, or, Up With Dead People. The music that makes up Golden Solitude combines lavish electronics (working with both beats and more esoteric textures) with more naturalistic jazz combo aesthetics, embracing meticulously recorded acoustic drums, bass and horns without being too reverent. 'Catch & Kiss' is content to shatter the source material into glitches and stutters, just about preserving the rich, smokey instrumental timbres whilst ensuring a shock of modernity runs throughout the piece. While comparisons to groups like Dictaphone seem fairly natural, the film noir qualities of 'Dissapearing City' takes Ritornell into knowingly loungey territory, only to be hastily subverted by granular sound collages like 'Naked' and the piano-based micro-drone of the Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto-alike 'Nina'. Recommended. - boomkat

Aquarium Eyes

Acoustic and electronic sounds merge on »Aquarium Eyes«. Paying great attention to detail, Ritornell recorded at various locations. The results are gently woven into their very own world of sound. Defamiliarized by subtle electronic manipulation, instruments such as piano, double bass, vibraphone, kalimba, and accordion develop a surprising life of their own, only to be consequently swallowed up by the hissing and buzzing of electronic devices. The album will be released by Karaoke Kalk in May, so please stay tuned.

Rain

Our dear colleague Rainer Kohlberger created the amazing app »rain« for iPhone and iPad. It is now available at the app store in an updated version with fresh sound design by Ritornell. Get it here!

Mussurunga - El Bromista

Infamous Didi Bruckmayr approached us some time ago asking for a contribution to his new project Mussurunga. We recorded his vocal acrobatics in a hidden location in Upper Austria and built a new composition swirling around his performance. The track is available now via Houztekk Records! Listen closely here.

Macht Nichts. Eine kleine Trilogie des Todes

Thanks to Departure we had the chance to work on an audiovisual interpretation of Elfriede Jelinek's book »Macht nichts. Eine kleine Trilogie des Todes«. My task was to design multilayered soundscapes that underline the narration. Our visual and sonic explorations are available as a full length DVD distributed by Hoanzl.

Echoed Space a.k.a Mr. and Mrs. Bug Dream A Vacation

We've been busy once again: Adia Trischler and Andreas Waldschütz shot this mesmerising short film and asked Richard to provide the soundtrack. Gently click this link or the picture above to check it out.

Vienna Independent Shorts

Richard provided the music for this years Vienna Independent Shortsfestival signation. The images were created by our dearest colleagueRobert Seidel. This is a little teaser for the performance at viennese Gartenbaukino on 9th of June.

The Reboot Joy Confession

The Reboot Joy Confession just released it's amazing debut album »Absolute Ill Way Harmonious Enterprise« on the beloved label Philpot. Richard has been asked to contribute some Ride Cymbal playing, so if you listen closely you might be able to eavesdrop on »The Blessing Rides«.

Worldwide Family

Brownswood Recordings is delighted to announce that the second volume of its »Worldwide Family« series comes courtesy of LA native Kutmah, London's newly transplanted DJ, visual artist and eternal beat-seeker. Kutmah is a king amongst cratediggers; a true musical iconoclast and he selected our collaboration with fellow producer Sam Irl called »Three« for his compilation. Click the pic to check it out!

Morning Gloria

Douglas Greed commissioned a Ritornell remix for his tender collaboration »Morning Gloria« with singer Mooryc. Done deal! It will be released this march on beloved label Freude am Tanzen. Check it out here in the meantime.

Creation of Uncanny Matter

We are happy to announce that Richard started to work with Martin Riedler on the sound design for a very interesting project. »Creation of Uncanny Matter« by the collective »Dekolta's Handwerk« is a theatre play in development, experimenting with the theatricality of chemical processes. A narrative without words, based on gesture and atmospheric noises and sounds, deals with the genesis of a virtual world and its consequences.

Ritornell for Musicbox

Katharina Hölzl designed very special business cards for Ritornell! With the aid of laser assisted milling, nine micro compositions consisting of circles, triangles and Ritornell's contact information were applied onto a long musicbox paper stripe. Gently click this link or the picture above for a video and more pictures!

Grimm Reality

The visionary producer Dimlite just released his third long player on Now Again/Stones Throw. We are happy to announce, that Richard Eigner contributed drums to this brilliant work. You can listen to my playing on the track »Fridge Note« or »Healing A Random Tyrant«, for example! We recommend getting the 3x10-inch vinyl box with outstanding artwork by Anneka Beatty.

Stray Cat Remixes

Abby Lee Tee's Stray Cat Remixes are out now. The package contains remixes by the likes of Feux, Kalifornia Kurt or Swede:art and also features Richard's Ritornell Rework for »Morning Scene«! It's a free download, so clickhere to check it out!

Ritornell Nutriot Podcast

I've put together a mix featuring some of my most favourite music for the lovely Nutriot blog. It features the brand new Ritornell remix for Abby Lee Tee, recent releases by Fennesz, Leafcutter John, Klaus or Tied And Tickled Trio. You can stream it here at Mixcloud or download it here directly.

Black Mirror

The documentation of Robert Seidel's projection sculpture Black Mirror is online now. Richard contributed the music to his great documentation. To check it out, gently click on the picture above or on this link. If you are in Los Angeles please visit Young Projects until August 20th to see it live!

Literature:Lab

Thanks to Departure we are currently working on an audiovisual interpretation of Elfriede Jelinek's book »Macht nichts. Eine kleine Trilogie des Todes« (1999). While Mimu, Gerhard Daurer & Jona Hoier are responsible for the visual part, Richard Eigner is currently designing multilayered soundscapes to underline the narration. You can catch a first glimpse of our work at this year's sound:frame Festival on 7. April 2011 atSalon 5.

My Human Wears Acedia Shreds

Dimlite's most recent work »My Human Wears Acedia Shreds« is out now onNow Again Records, a sublabel of beloved Stones Throw! We are happy to announce, that Ritornell's Richard Eigner contributed drums to »Metal Snake Rider«, an expansive opus packed into just over three minutes of non-stop invention. Get your copy here.

Snowy Nights Mix

This christmas mix is meant to warm your souls in these cold winter days. Amongst brilliant music by Machinefabriek, Dntel, Grouper or Walls, it also features a preview of Ritornell's upcoming album: a yet unheard improvised version of Urban Heartware. To check it out gently click the image byClemens Fantur or this link.

Deer & Fox Refoxed

Ritornell zero" podcast

For this week's zero" podcast Richard Eigner supplies a moody trip through the sonic world of Ritornell. The mix starts out with Matthew Dear's »Honey«, off his brand-new »Black City« album, and glides through pieces by Pantha Du Prince, Alva Noto, Vladislav Delay, ISAN, Lali Puna, and Ø. Exquisite ambient electronica for endless summer evenings.

Expedition Sonar

Karin Fisslthaler and Ritornell's Richard Eigner will present the findings of their sonorous expedition of Lentos Art Museum in form of several sound installations. The exhibtion takes place from 27. August - 12. September 2010. Don't miss it!

FM4 Soundpark Studio2 Session Download

Ritornell's Studio2 Session is finally available for download! It also comes with a special dolby surround version of »Deer & Fox« and »Musicbox«. If you are more the visual kind of person you can watch a video of us having plenty of fun! Gently click the picture above for your downloading pleasure.

Tripolar

Richard Eigner just finished the sound-design for a new installation byRobert Seidel. It will by exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taiwan from 15th of June till 18th of July 2010 as part of the show »Tripolar - 3 Positions in German Video Art«, so if you are near check it out!

FM4 Soundpark Studio2 Session

Ritornell is sharing the next FM4 Soundpark Studio 2 Session on 3rd of June together with their dear friends of Ogris Debris! Ritornell's main line up is expanded by Mimu, Gerhard Daurer & Bernd Klug for the ultimate listening pleasure. The concert will be recorded and filmed, so stay tuned for the footage!

Cosmogramma

Take a closer listen to Flying Lotus' new space-opera »Cosmogramma«: Richard Eigner of Ritornell contributed some free-jazz-drumming to the track »German Haircut« that also features Lotus' cousin and Jazz-LegendRavi Coltrane. Oh yes!!

The Law Of Time

We are happy to announce that Sigrid Nagele & Gloria Gammer won the Crossing Europe »Local Artists Atelier Award« for their music video to our song Ritornell & Mimu »The Law Of Time«. Congratulations! Gently clickthe picture above to check it out!

Stuck in a Groove

Richard adapted his piece »Golden Solitude Pt.1« for Clemens Kogler's amazing work »Stuck in a Groove«. Phonovideo is a VJ tool or visual instrument used to display animations in an analog way without the help of a computer. »Stuck in a Groove« is Clemens first film made with this technique. Gently click the picture above to check it out!

Ritornell Poster

Our dear friend Martin Embacher designed a hauntingly beautiful Ritornell poster for us! Printed in »Pantone Gold« it shines for your personal pleasure. Catch your copy at our beloved A Number Of Small Things store.

Denoising Field Recordings

Richard Eigner's new work »Denoising Field Recordings« documents an early attempt at using denoising-techniques in a creative and compositional manner. Instead of utilising noise-reduction-algorithms for their intended purpose (the restoration of damaged audio signals), these processes are applied to various field recordings. »Denoising Field Recordings« is released as a limited edition of see-through 12" vinyl with an intruiging white-on-white cover designed by Hans Renzler . The digital version is available exlusively at Zero".

Misel Quitno Remixes

Misel Quitno's record »Sleep Over Remixes Vol.1« is out now! Richard took the freedom to remix »A Fancy Friendship« on his own, but invited a bunch of musicians to rip the tune out of its original studio-murk and transplanted the tubas into his own airy, somewhat jazzy version of an imaginary film score. Richard claims that the drums on this remix aren't actually drums, but swine-flus, made of tropical wood.

FM4 Soundselection 21

We are happy to announce that our collaborative track with Some Freak and Andreya Triana »The Light« is featured on beloved Radio FM4'sSoundselection 21! The compilation is released on Universal Records and features great music like The XX and fellow Austrians like JSBSL and The Clonious.

Autumn Mix

Richard made a beautiful selection of brilliant music to warm your hearts in cold autumn. To download simply click the picture above or here. Also contains a new and unrelased song by Ritornell!

Elevate Festival

For some pictures of our set at lovely Elevate Festival gently click the picture above or have a look at our images section. Thanks to everyone showing up and making this a really nice concert!

FM4 Signs & Signals

Patrick Pulsinger & Richard Eigner are playing a special show at this year's edition of Ars Electronica Festival! Freyluft will use the gigantic light- facade of Ars Electronica museum for their visuals to Patrick's modular-synth-extravaganza and Richard's Lemur-controlled Kalimba-Electronics. The show is on at circa 10 PM and will also be streamed on Radio FM4 in line with FM4 Sounds and Signals.

Compilation Times

Our track »Tide And Tickle« is featured on the compilation »Chronik 1« by swiss label Trepok. The piece »Portable Ocean« can be found on the compilation of this years lovely Störung Festival and the track Urban Heartware (feat. Mimu) is featured on the covermount CD of Fleisch Magazin issue in May! Check them all out for your personal pleasure!

Aabhsuu

Richard just finished the music for an installation called »Aabhsuu« byRobert Seidel and Florian Licht. It's a projection-scultpure dealing with the topic »Bauhaus in Jena« and can be seen at the Stadtmuseum Jena until 7th of June 2009. The correct title of the whole exhibtion is »In nachbarlicher Nähe - Bauhaus in Jena. Bilder, Modelle, Objekte, Fotos und Texte«. If you are near, pay it a visit!

Vivisecting a city's tissue

Our dear friend Eva Sommeregger just finished a lovely video for the »Golden Solitude« album-track Nina. Gently click the banner above to check her fantastic work out! You can also find the animation in our video section.

Ritornell in Seoul

Our dear friend Robert Seidel is going to present his new virtual sculpturevellum at Nabi Art Center on the 19th of February in Seoul. His talk is followed by a »live painting« with music provided by Ritornell.

A retrospective exhibition of his experimental films (2/20 - 3/31/2009) will also be shown on the gigantic multiscreen setup at the COMO SKT-Tower.

Golden Solitude featured on Zero Inch

Our album Golden Solitude is now featured exclusively on our friends lovely digital store Zero Inch. Gently click the banner above to check it out! In a couple of weeks time it will also be available on CD and Vinyl!

Flatform - Quantum + Trento Symphonia + Movements of an Impossible Time + A Place to Come + Can Not Be Anything Against the Wind + 57.600 Seconds of Invisible Night and Light + Sunday 6th April, 11:42 a.m. + About zero + With Nature There Are no Special Effects, Only Consequences (f)

Ben Rivers - The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes are not Brothers (f)

Cheryl Frances-Hoad - Glory Tree (m)

Thomas Adès - The Twenty-Fifth Hour (m)

Daníel Bjarnason - Over Light Earth + Processions + Solaris (m)

Dobrinka Tabakova - String Paths (m)

Jacek Sienkiewicz - Nomatter (m)

Veli-Matti Puumala - Anna Liisa (m)

Bill Douglas - Trilogy: My Childhood, My Ain Folk, My Way Home (f)

DIALECT - Gowanus Drifts (m)

Robert Enrico - Au coeur de la vie (f)

Kara-lis Coverdale & LXV - Sirens (m)

Uljana Wolf - i mean i dislike that fate that i was made to where (b)

Mempo Giardinelli - Sultry Moon (b)

Jean-Marie Straub - Dialogue d'ombres (f)

Klaus Hoffer - Among the Bieresch (b)

Maxim Biller - U glavi Brune Schulza (b)

Svend Åge Madsen - Days with Diam + Virtue & Vice in the Middle Time (b)